Lovely
by littlefiction
Summary: Fruits Basket x Princess Princess xover.  Ritsu is currently attending an all boys school with a crossdressing tradition but what's really got him baffled is the man who makes the dresses.


Disclaimer: No owning of Princess Princess or Fruits Basket for this one. Princess Princess is property of Mikiyo Tsuda, and Fruits Basket is property of Natsuki Takaya.

A/N: Fruits Basket x Princess Princess crossover. This story takes place when Ritsu is no longer cursed and Shihoudani, Tohru and Mikoto are no longer princesses (the year after the series takes place). Also, this is a ONESHOT, it is complete, and there will be no chapter 2.

Warnings: Cross dressing, mxm, TALKING IN CAPS

Lovely

"I'm sorry…. I'm sorry… If only I hadn't gotten lost, if only I didn't fall behind, I'd still be with Shihoudani-san and I wouldn't be lost and burdening these kind people…"

"It's no trouble," chirped a senior who was inspecting the hem of a dress Ritsu hadn't looked up to see, "As soon as I'm done checking this dress, and making any last minute adjustments, I'll take you-"

"Oh no! I couldn't impose upon you like that! I've already burdened Shihoudani-san so much! I couldn't possibly go with you I'd just make you late and then you'd miss lunch, and then you'll be cranky and snap at all you're teachers and get sent out—"

"Whoa! Slow down, Sohma-senpai!"

"AND GET SUSPENED AND EXPELLED AND YOU'LL LEAD A LIFE OF CRIME WHICH WILL," Ritsu began running around in a panic, oblivious to his surroundings, including the sewing mannequin in the middle of the room, "RUIN YOUR CHANCES OF FINDING TRUE LOVE AND YOU BE LONELY THE REST OF YOUR—AHH!" Ritsu tripped on the hem of his kimono, which he had been allowed to wear until the sewing club could create a skirt based uniform for him, and fell towards the mannequin, just far enough not to knock it down. Ritsu's face brushed against a lacy hem as he fell. Ritsu's face contorted anxiously as he looked up, "I'M—oh…." Ritsu stared in wonder at the sewing club president's latest design, a goth-loli stewardess/maid creation. "So lovely…" Ritsu whispered, mesmerized.

"Isn't it? It is, isn't it? My best design yet!" An ecstatic voice beamed from somewhere behind him. Ritsu twisted on his knees to see behind him, where a senior with unnaturally wide-open eyes and a mess of curly hair falling out of a clip seemed to be wiggling with uncontainable joy. The senior suddenly seemed to see Ritsu for the first time, and his ridiculously large eyes grew just a little bit wider.

"Oh! It's here! It's here it's here it's here! A TIDAL WAVE OF INSPIRATION!"

Ritsu watched the designer in fearful fascination; he could almost see the waves crashing around him.

"Don't mind him," another senior said, "Natashou is always like that."

"N-Natashou-senpai? Isn't… isn't he the person who agreed to design a new uniform for me?"

"Yup, that's him."

"Oh! So you're the cutie who wants to wear skirts to class!" Natashou bounced over to Ritsu, his hear bouncing right along with him, "Hello! I'm Kaoru Natashou, and you're going to love that skirt." He grabbed Ritsu's shoulders, ignoring the flinch, "I'm glad to know you wear more than ordinary women's clothes, it means I can make lovely outfits for you."

"Oh! I couldn't possibly!"

"I can, can't I? I can make you a lovely outfit! You'll wear it! You will, won't you? Won't you?" Ritsu was amazed at how quickly the sewing club president's face could move from pure ecstasy to dismay and desperation.

"Y-yes, that would be wonderful… senpai…."

"Of course!" He announced, back to aggressively happy in the bat of an eye.

Ritsu smiled nervously, wondering what would come of being adopted by an eccentric dressmaker.

Three days had passed, and Ritsu was certain Natashou had forgotten him entirely. He felt relieved, and, oddly, a little disappointed. Still, he would have to ask someone about his uniform.

"But who to ask…"

"Who to ask what, Sohma-senpai?" Came the familiar voice of Shihoudani-san, who was carrying three beautiful clothing boxes, each looking like they had been gift-wrapped at an expensive fashion store. Miko-chan was right behind him with four more boxes.

"Would you like help carrying those?"

"No, we were told it's important we carry them ourselves." Mikoto answered truthfully, remembering the horrific tale of screaming, frantic circles and falling the sewing club assistant had told.

"Oh."

"So what is you're question?" Shihoudani reminded.

"Oh! Um… my uniform…"

"Oh, we can clear that up, you get them today. Can you take us to you're dorm please?"

"Yes! I memorized it yesterday! I walked back and forth sixteen times, with that map you made me, and only got lost seven times."

"Oh... um… great job…" Shihoudani offered generously, looking a little worn out.

"Thank you." Ritsu smiled, and Shihoudani was a little jealous of his beautiful smile, but shook it off, because it was entirely too cute, and it was no wonder at all that the college boys picked on him so much the first couple days. They had stopped when Ritsu accidentally broke someone's arm in a panic.

When they reached Ritsu's door, he fumbled for his key, and opened the door. "After you, Shihoudani-san, Miko-chan…"

'Miko-chan' grimaced, but said nothing. It was Yuujiro who had convinced the upper classman that Mikoto liked to be called 'Miko-chan'. It was fairly easy, since most of the student body called him that, and it was such a terrible ordeal when Mikoto tried to correct him that he just caved. He assured the distressed young man that it was fine, and (grudgingly) that he liked to be called Miko-chan. It was a lie, but he had already seen Ritsu accidentally push a classmate down the stares in an apologetic frenzy, and he liked not having a concussion.

The boys set the boxes down on Ritsu's bed, and dropped down onto Ritsu's former roommate's bed. "Those are from Natashou" Mikoto panted, slightly winded from carrying the deceptively heavy boxes up three flights of stairs.

"They're so pretty… he didn't have to go through that much trouble, I don't deserve it."

Shihoudani elbowed Mikoto before he had the chance to agree out loud.

"Open them, senpai."

Ritsu smiled, and pulled one box out, very carefully untying the bow so as not to damage it. The younger boys sighed, prepared for a long wait. When he finally got the box open, he stared stupidly at a random assortment of black bows and ribbons. He pulled out each and examined it, not noticing the sighs escaping both boys at the sight. Under the bows and ribbons were a variety of socks and stockings including ankle socks, knee socks and thigh highs. Under the socks were three simple black bloomers. The next box had four pairs of boots, each unique. The third box had five different white shirts, the next five ordinary black pleated skirts that would fall just below the knee. The fourth had petticoats and a shorter pleated skirt, with a note that said "for special occasions", the fifth had three simple black jackets very similar to the standard jacket with a slightly more feminine cut, the sixth was filled with an assortment of matching hair accessories and the seventh had three binders and a note, which read "Here they are, my masterpieces! They're interchangeable, a beautiful union of form and function, and easy to accessorize. Enjoy! P.S. check out the binders when you've got some free time, and later this evening have Shihoudani-kun escort you to my dorm for a final fitting. I'd have you just stop by the club but we're going to be really busy today working on costumes for the cultural festival. See you soon! -Kaoru Natashou"

"Um… Shihoudani-san… I'm don't want to impose on you but… um…"

"What time would you like to go see Natashou? The assistant in the sewing club said he'd probably want you to go see him for a final fitting."

"The note says this evening, what time is least inconvenient for you?"

"This evening? Won't the club be closed?"

"Yes, umm… the note says to go to his dorm, but if its too much trouble—"

"No, we can grab your things after dinner and head over." Shihoudani started listing off the names of people who might actually know where Natashou's dorm is, and wishing he could think of someone who he didn't mind visiting. He prayed Akira would know, because after that his options were the student council (enough said) or the sewing club, where he ran the risk of running into Natashou, who still insisted on being inspired by him even though he wasn't a princess anymore.

After Shihoudani left for his next class, Ritsu sat on his bed and opened the binders, which were full of beautiful designs, some clearly for princesses and other seemed to be his own personal projects, which included several lines of clothes for every season, and even a section devoted to beautiful kimonos. Ritsu looked longingly at several designs he would have loved to wear, or at least try on, but knew he would never do it. The more he saw, the more excited he became to have such a talented designer making his uniform, and the more worried he became, because most of the designs he saw he would never have the courage to go to class in.

The day went by so slowly for poor Ritsu, who was on the edge of his seat with nerves. He had been asking around all day, and there were many, MANY rumors about Natashou's living arrangements, and they couldn't all possibly be true if for no other reason than they often contradicted each other, but if even a couple were true… Ritsu shuddered at the thought. He thought he could dismiss all the rumors involving livestock, because they might eat his designs and that would be a problem… and the hermit rumors, because he thrives on beautiful people… And the orgy rumors because… wait, why could he rule those out!?!

"Are you ok, senpai?" Shihoudani asked, more curious than concerned. He found Sohma-senpai shivering and tense. Ritsu had gone through all the rumors in his head, and he couldn't believe any of them at first but the more he thought about it, the more certain he became that he couldn't rule most of them out, and the more possible they all sounded until he was thoroughly worked up.

"Ngh! Shihoudani-san! I! Umm… that is, what do you know about Natashou-senpai?"

"Natashou? He's… well, eccentric. He loves what he does and he does it all the time. He has high expectations, and isn't great a giving credit where it's due, but he's not that hard to work with, from what I hear. He gets really excited when he's inspired; he's the sewing club president, the primary designer of the princess costumes and very demanding. He's also a huge fan of gothic-lolita, and clearly isn't offended at the thought of a boy in a dress. That, and he's one of the only people on campus who sees the princesses as boys even when they're in uniform. That's all I know for sure. There's plenty of rumors, but none that have any real evidence behind them. Well, except that one, there's evidence supporting it as a definite possibility, but still, no real proof, I mean no one's really seen Natashou flirt with anyone, so it's hard to say for sure but…" Watching Ritsu, it was becoming more and more clear to Yuujiro that he had no idea what he was talking about. After a moment's internal debate, he decided if Ritsu hadn't heard it, he wasn't going to spread the rumor, especially without any proof. "Never mind, don't worry about it. Come on, let's eat, we don't want to show up too late and inconvenience Natashou."

Ritsu was about to press for details, but stopped himself, not sure if that would be rude or not. They finished they're meals, politely chatting about the day's events, and started heading towards Natashou's dorm.

"So, do you know the way?" Ritsu asked, a slight tremble to his voice, almost hoping they wouldn't be able to find it.

"Yes, Miko-chan and I went and asked a sewing club member. Natashou was there, but he was very busy. I've never seen him look so stressed. What was really weird, he looked very stressed, but still had that crazy happy look too. How can anyone be extremely happy and stressed out at the same time?"

"My stress management teacher at my old school said there was good stress and bad stress, maybe that was good stress." Ritsu offered almost calmly, happy to have something useful to say.

"Okay… well, here we are. I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I promised to study with Tohru tonight." It was mostly true, he did have plans, and he was sorry to just leave him, but Tohru wasn't expecting him for at least half an hour—Yuujiro just didn't want to get caught by Natashou, unfortunately for him, the door swung open the moment Ritsu knocked.

"Hello, my glorious—Oh! How beautiful! You two look so elegant together!"

Shihoudani flashed his 'Smile of a queen' technique, momentarily stopping Natashou in his tracks.

"I have to go, I'm sorry. Good luck with the fitting!" And with that he ran off.

"So sweet!" Natashou cheered, "And you!"

"M-me?" Ritsu whimpered.

"Yes you! You're lovely!"

"Thank you." Ritsu smiled sweetly, his eyes starting to water.

"No crying until after the fitting, my lovely, you'll get spots on the clothes."

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"No worries, now!" Natashou said, suddenly very excited. "Time to get changed! I'll help you with—" Suddenly, a chirpy little tune was chirping in Natashou's pocket. "One moment please, don't start without me!" He pulled out a cell, "Hello? (Pause) Why not? (Pause) But we're both guys and… (Pause) …but I wanted to check…(pause) ok…" Natashou hung up, clearly disappointed. He bounced over to his bed, sat cross-legged facing the wall and said, "Ok, let me know when you're done, and I'll help after if it needs adjusting."

"Okay…" Ritsu mumbled, wondering why Natashou sounded disappointed, and why he had seemed so excited in the first place. A possibility popped into his head, and the thought made him blush, and feel guilty. "I'm sorry…" He whispered.

"Sorry? What for?" Natashou asked without turning.

"I was thinking something unkind."

"Ok, I forgive you." Natashou said with a shrug, making his curls spring.

"Ok… umm… I'm dressed."

Natashou sprang from the bed in full-inspired mode.

"It fits! Look how beautifully it lies, turn a little, ah! And see how sweetly it sways around you're knees! But still, the skirt could come up a little," He said, eying it critically. He carefully began folding the excess fabric from the top, so the hem in the front came up… and up…"

Ritsu pressed his knees together instinctively as the skirt came up over his knees. The oblivious designer made the skirt creep up and up until it rested two centimeters above the knees.

"Marvelous… but," He added, finally noticing his model's discomfort, "Confidence is very sexy, and you're obviously uncomfortable. Let's leave it down." He let the skirt drop, and smoothed it out.

Sexy? Why sexy? Surely he didn't talk like that with the little freshmen princesses that were his dress up dolls? The only answer he could think of muscled its way back into his brain, and he repressed the thought with a rough shake of his head.

"No, you want it up?" Natashou asked, delightedly surprised, and quickly grabbed the measuring tape, pincushion, dressmaker's chalk and Ritsu's skirt in one fluid motion.

"N-no! Please, thank you, no, I'm sorry!" Ritsu sputtered, flustered.

Natashou laughed good-naturedly. "Are you ok? You seem nervous, bordering on fearful. What's wrong?"

"N-nothing… I'm okay… I…" And suddenly, he felt Natashou's hands on his waist, and that thought was back, along with so many others that he didn't think he was comfortable with. "Are… are you attracted to me?" It had slipped, and he was sorry, he was very sorry and just as Natashou opened his mouth to answer, "I'm sorry! It was a stupid question, I should never have asked, like you would ever—"

"Yes."

"Like—Ngh—huh?" Ritsu tripped over his words at the sudden, clear declaration.

"Yes, of course I'm attracted to you. You are a beautiful, magnificent, sexy queen! But Ritsu," He said, his eyes radiating warmth as he stood to look him square in the eyes, still holding him, "I won't try to seduce you without you're permission. If you want this relationship to remain platonic, I won't ever press you, I promise. So you don't have to be afraid to be near me, okay?"

"Okay…" Ritsu sighed softly; he wasn't sure what to think of Natashou's attraction, or his own confused feelings. The only thing he was sure of, was that whatever happened, he wanted to be near him.

-The End-


End file.
